


Complimentary Colors

by SaraBee



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 13:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1690379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraBee/pseuds/SaraBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orange and blue go together for a reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complimentary Colors

Kageyama has long thought that orange is a positively hideous color. It isn’t aesthetically pleasing; no self-respecting individual, as far as Kageyama is concerned, would buy orange furniture, or paint a wall orange, or drive an orange car, or wear orange clothing. Psychologically, the color serves only to remind one of food, either calling to mind the memory of a bitter fruit picked too-ripe and out of season, or of a shameful substance called cheddar that was invented by some American somewhere and is fundamentally useless. Orange is not a seasonal color; although Kageyama has sometimes heard it called a “fall color,” he has painstakingly classified each of the colors of fall leaves into strict and well-defined categories, and not a single of those colors can be defined as a true orange. Orange does not match well with any of the other typical colors of the rainbow; next to a robust red, orange looks too plain, lacking depth. Next to a bright and happy yellow, orange feels drab and unenthusiastic. The combinations of orange with green and blue are so inherently unpleasant that Kageyama prefers not to think on them at all. With purple, orange is too brutal, void of subtlety or grace.  


Far preferable to Kageyama is the color blue. Unlike orange, blue is a purposeful color. Blue has a multitude of different shades, all of which are aesthetically pleasing. Psychologically, blue performs the simultaneous task of soothing whilst inducing feelings of hunger which, from an evolutionary point of view, should seem a relatively important task. It compliments each color of the typical rainbow (except orange) with precision; the depth of a perfect cobalt blue feeds the depth of the robust red; the vivacious cerulean augments the energy of the bright yellow just as it shares the excitement of a Kelly green; royal blue quietly supports the regality of true plum.  


Blue does not demand attention, as orange does, but rather lays quietly unnoticed, vital yet underappreciated. Kageyama often finds himself feeling blue, and not in the traditional sense. To Kageyama, blue does not represent sadness but strength. Standing at the right end of the court with his dark eyes trained on his opponents and his focus wholly on the motions and movements of the ball, Kageyama feels strong. The navy of his Kitagawa Daiichi uniform is the perfect shade for him, because it is brutal and uncompromising in its solidity. He feels confident when he wears the color, untainted by the clean white that compliments it, enough so that he fancies himself unbeatable. Thus far, that belief has proven true.  


Kageyama’s resolve is shaken for the first time at the Junior High Intermural Championships when he is made fully aware of orange. He can’t remember the context of their first meeting, but he remembers the way he felt: angry. His typical demeanor, often characterized as “moderate irritation,” was blown clear into the sky by orange, destroying his calm in a single, unintentional fell swoop. He remembers the way amber eyes had sparkled with wildfire, the way short stature was compensated for by an overwhelming spirit as unlikely to be tamed as the flames within. Kageyama was jostled so forcefully from the bubble in which he lived that he felt no option but to retaliate, to be angry; his world, although imperfect, had been comfortable before orange, so the most logical option was for him to remove the intrusion.  


Of course, it hadn’t been that easy.  


Kageyama had taken the game with a landslide, but the score was not important to him. Emotionally, he had lost. His brain was wracked with orange, eclipsed by it. All his life he had believed that calm, cool waters could always fight on equal level with raging fire, but the Junior High Intermural Championships had taught him differently. Fire blazed through its path, careless of whatever obstacle stood before it. Its light was blinding. It was fearless and incomprehensible – a force to be reckoned with.  


After that, Kageyama’s dreams were terrifying and orange. In them, he was utterly overtaken by an endless flame, burned alive by unbridled passion. Each day, he awoke panic-stricken and anxious, knowing that with just a little more practice, a little more fine-tuning, orange had the potential to destroy them all, to become a formidable opponent. It was for that reason Kageyama knew that there was no choice other than to succeed at Nationals, to take home a title. Maybe that way he would become strong enough, able to crush the fire within orange before the fire crushed him. So he pushed harder, higher, stronger, faster, terrified that he would fall behind.  


When there was no one there behind him, no one to spike the toss, he knew that he had been defeated. Nationals had been a pipe dream, and he felt foolish for not realizing it sooner. He had been defeated the moment that orange had stepped onto the court, because he had realized that he was not as unstoppable as he had thought. His confidence had not been absolute – in fact, his confidence had been about as far from absolute as humanly possible. He had doubted himself, and Kageyama’s teammates had sensed that doubt and had chosen the absolute worst time to take advantage of it. The army with which he would have fought the flames had turned on him, and by himself he was hopeless.  


So, with slumped shoulders and wounded pride, he had turned in the dignified blue of Kitagawa Daiichi for the somber black of Karasuno. He resolved to make himself stronger, to fight harder and build a newer, stronger army that was capable of beating back the flames. The crow did not have the pride of the king, but the crow was not held to the same standards as the king, either. The crow was frightening, a base and insidious creature that cared not who the opponent was; the crow greedily ate each point that it earned, fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. If Kageyama could unlock his true potential, find a spiker that was capable of matching his tosses, he knew that the crow could even overcome the fire. He could redeem himself that way, rebuild his reputation, regain his pride.  


He should have known that escape from orange would not have been that simple.  


Realizing that he would not compete on a court against orange but with it was jarring, to say the least. What was left of Kageyama’s pride wanted him to say that he was angry to have been robbed of the opportunity to redeem himself, but the truth that he was more hesitant to admit was that he was frightened, plain and simple. Orange had not changed from the time of the Junior High Intermural Championships and, if it were at all possible, seemed even more out of control than before. His name was Hinata Shouyou, and he embodied the name so thoroughly that Kageyama had to wonder whether predetermination was something more than a myth.  


At first, Kageyama was resistant. He masked his fear of the fire with hostility, and for a little while, it worked. But hostility would not help them win the three-on-three, and hostility would not help Kageyama remain setter. He fought against the fear buried deep inside him: the fear that he would toss, and that no one would remain to answer his call. Every fibre of his being screamed to leave him alone, orange can’t be trusted, but Kageyama had no choice. He either had to trust this boy, or he had to lose everything that he had ever worked for. And the latter was not an option.  


What Kageyama learned the first time the “oddball quick strike” succeeded was that even the most unruly blaze can be harnessed and used. When he heard the satisfying sound of Hinata Shouyou’s palm connecting to the ball, he experienced a thrill unlike anything he had ever experienced. Satisfaction spiked through him without warning, and for the first time in his life, he felt bright. Beside him, feet firmly planted on the ground, Hinata’s grin shone brightly, his expression radiating the same foreign emotion that had Kageyama’s chest feeling full and happy.  


What Kageyama came to learn over the next few weeks is that orange can be a positively beautiful color. Aesthetically, it is startling; it wins the attention of opponents, ensuring that the eyes of the enemy are constantly tracking the movements of Kageyama’s allies. It reminds Kageyama that no matter how quickly his enemy’s eyes are moving, his eyes can move quicker. Psychologically, orange is the color that Kageyama has come to associate with happiness. Although it may not compliment the other colors of the typical rainbow quite as perfectly as one might like, against black, orange is perfect. It is the reminder of hope against a bleak and seemingly hopeless background. It is fierce and unforgiving, unwilling to give up against impossible odds.  


Orange is the way warm arms feel around Kageyama’s waist after a long day of practice. Orange is the warm and familiar scent that Kageyama wakes up to some days, falls asleep next to some nights. Orange is the way a soft mess of hair feels against Kageyama’s cheek. Orange is surprisingly delicate hands carding through Kageyama’s hair, massaging the stress from his scalp. Orange is unexpected love which, as far as Kageyama is concerned, is the best kind. Orange is the warmth that starts in Kageyama’s chest, makes his breaths come quick and his heart beat faster, before spreading out to his fingertips and his toes. Orange is his and, despite all of their inconsistencies and differences, Kageyama thinks they’re pretty well-matched.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a KageHina Week tumblr prompt! 
> 
> This is the first thing I've written in a while, and it's my first time writing for Haikyuu!!, so I'm going to apologize grossly for how odd my syntax is. Hopefully as KageHina week goes on (and I fill a prompt with something that includes like, dialogue) the stories will feel a little less awkward. Please don't give up on me yet! I have potential, I swear!!!


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